Qualitative heuristics, which were developed at the University of Hamburg, Germany, try to bring back the qualities of systematic exploration and discovery into psychological and sociological research. This contribution discusses the historical background, the four basic rules to optimize the chance for discovery, the research process as dialogue, the testing processes, and as an example the methodology to investigate and reevaluate the classical method of introspection. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0001136